Henry’s Goals for 2016

Unlike many other typing heads on the internet, I’m not sold on the power of goals. Sure, there are a few tireless souls out there who can scribble down notebooks full of goals and manage to accomplish every one. These people are goal-slayers. They’re a rare breed, indeed.

Me? I vaguely remember setting goals last year.

All went well for a week or two. I was reading 20 books a day, jogging 500km a week, and generally kicking ass. Then, one day in mid-January, an EMP-equipped drone flew into my bedroom and erased my brain. After losing all of my cerebral data I promptly kicked back on my sofa and ate a giant bucket of Häagen-Dazs. Creamy goodness hit my tongue and there was no going back.

Still, goals can be fun. Below are my goals for 2016. Some will be painless. Others may prove painful. Expect a full review at the end of the year.

The goals:

Publish two novels
I’d like to wrap up the Northland Chronicles pentalogy this year. I believe I can, but there’s a difference between can and will. Let’s aim high and see how far I get!

Read 60 books
This is doable. In 2014 I read 56 books without too much trouble. The key will be to stick with books I enjoy. Books that bore me take longer to finish.

Run a half marathon
I could probably manage this today but it would not be pretty. I’ll train for a few more months and be ready to run next autumn, once Taiwan cools off again.

Sample 50 varieties of beer
I like to enjoy a beer in the evening. The goal here isn’t to increase my drinking volume; I’d simply like to enjoy a variety of beers instead of always drinking the same old brews.

Write and publish 25 blog posts
This might be the hardest goal here. I’m a very inconsistent blogger, as you’ve surely noticed *wink wink*. Maybe this year I’ll finally let loose and unleash the bloggage. (Note that my Jams of the Week posts don’t count towards this number.)

Read a 200+ page novel in one day
I’m amazed by people who can read a novel in one sitting. Even a book I’m deeply enjoying usually takes me 2 or 3 days to finish. Sometime this year I’d like to block out an entire day and tear through a book. It’s possible — I just need to focus and DO IT!